Archive: USA

Hypocrisy is a melodic Death Metal band from Ludvika, Sweden, formed in 1991 by Mastermind Peter Tägtgren. They started as a traditional Death Metal band, but soon started to incorporate melodic elements in their sound. To this day Hypocrisy released twelve full length albums, four EPs, two demos, two compilations, two live releases and four singles. Albums like Penetralia, The Fourth Dimension or The Final Chapter are under my most heard albums ever.

American Hardcore legends Converge – formed in 1990 in Salem, Massachusetts – have finally released their latest output All We Love We Leave Behind. For me personally the last few weeks were musically the best of the year – new releases by Pig Destroyer, Converge and Anaal Nathrakh. Those three are just brilliant.

Abigail Williams is a Black Metal band from Los Angeles, USA, formed in 2005. Becoming – their latest (and last, as the band just stated) album released in 2012 – is depicted above. Its predecessor In the Absence of Light was also featured on Symmetal.

Mose Giganticus is a Progressive Synth Sludge Metal band from Philadephia, USA, formed in 1999. And when I say band, I mean Matt Garfield (songwriter, vocalist, programmer, drummer, and keyboardist) plus several additional musicians for live performances. The band has released three albums with 2010’s Gift Horse (released through Relapse Records) being the latest one. Gift Horse actually was one of my 2010 Top 5 albums.

Defeatist is a Grindcore band from New York City, USA, formed in 2005. The band has released two EPs (Thanatonic State and In Praise of False Hope both in 2009), two splits with Kursk and Triac/ASRA, one compilation (including all EP and split songs) and two full length albums. The latest one is Tyranny of Decay released in 2011 via Nerve Altar.

Testament is a Thrash Metal band from Berkeley, CA, USA, formed in 1983. They have released ten studio albums, four live albums, six compilation albums, and six singles to this day. The latest one is pictured above – Dark Roots of Earth released in 2012 (actually yesterday) via Nuclear Blast. It’s an amazing album with an amazing cover. The artwork was created by Eliran Kantor who’s previously worked on Gwar, Atheist or Havok.

Black Metal logos often follow the same established design guidelines. Among them are a volitional bad legibility, black letter references, satanic or antichristian elements like inverted crosses or pentagrams and dark ornamental elements like thorns or spikes. But one simple form can be found in a lot of these logos: the circle. Of course not always as a complete shape, but rather as a grid the logos are based on.